The Silent Hour of Night
by China Smith
Summary: "Some nights are made for torture, or reflection, or the savouring of loneliness." It's the evening before the Lancer's departure to the Synchro dimension. Yet two people find themselves unwilling to sleep, plagued by the horrors of their past and having their own reasons for joining this crusade.
**China: Whoop my second oneshot for Arc-V. This time it's based around Kurosaki and my friend Tiruru's Arc-V oc Megumi who is an interesting character to write about because she's like a living doll who is used to having her decisions made for her and lacks somewhat lacks emotional development due to losing her mother and brother at a young age, leaving her an empty shell of herself. However, after the Maiami tournament this starts to change and Megumi does have some emotions, she just has a hard time expressing this. I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Not a lot of things made Megumi anxious. The prospect of losing a duel, her pictures not coming out as she wanted them or even Sawatari invading her personal space. However, the thought of leaving the Standard Dimension to travel to the Synchro Dimension in order to aid the Lancers in the fight against Academia was another matter entirely. But not for the reasons one may think. Megumi was confident enough in her duelling skills to know that she wasn't at a risk of being transformed into a card.

It was the thought of disappointing her grandfather.

After that horrible accident that forever changed Megumi's life by taking away the ones she loved, her grandparents adopted her and became a surrogate father to her. Still, it wasn't' enough to fill the void that the trauma had left in her heart. Maybe that was why Megumi found it hard to connect with other people, that instant where one minute, everything is perfect and good memories are formed. Until in the blink of an eye, everybody had gone leaving her alone to handle the repercussions.

For the first time ever, Megumi had a chance to do something beneficial with her life that would help everyone, but she knew that her grandfather would never allow his esteemed granddaughter to place herself in harm's way. Going home was _definitely_ not an option. Megumi had an excellent poker face (years of practice from pretending to be the perfect granddaughter because after all, appearances was everything in her grandfather's world) yet she couldn't lie to her grandfather. The moment Megumi left her home to meet the rest of the Lancers at Leo Duel School (LDS), everything would unravel due to her guilt and he would lock her away so that she couldn't endanger herself.

So Megumi only had one option.

"Akaba-san," Reiji's eyes flickered behind his red frames.

"Hm?" Evidently he was distracted by his thoughts, but Megumi did have an unfortunate habit of speaking at inopportune times.

"I can't go back home, not right now. My grandfather…I couldn't do that to him." Megumi hesitated, not knowing how to vocalise her discomfort.

"You do not want to be a member of the Lancers?" Reiji misinterpreted, sliding his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Megumi shook her head, but it turned into a nod. "He feels guilty…for everything that happened in the past. He's already lost one daughter, I don't want to put him through the same emotional turmoil again."

Reiji stood up from behind his desk, linking his arms together behind his back. "I am unable to promise your wellbeing during our travels. Already, too many people have been lost in this needless war and that number is only going to increase unless action is taken. If you have any inkling of doubt, then this is where our partnership was drawn to a close. However," he sat on his desk and looked into Megumi's topaz orbs. "If you're perfectly content with continuing your sheltered existence, not knowing the true situation of what Academia have planned then you can leave. Until they return to Standard. Everything that happened towards the end of tournament was only a fraction of their power. They've already torn apart one dimension, what's to prevent them from conquering the others?"

"The others?" Confusion filled Megumi's mind, she hadn't taken that into account.

"Megumi, you have a choice to make and I would implore you to think deeply about it. Once you've made your decision, there is no going to back. Stay with the Lancers and you'll be able to explore the truth of the world, widening your horizons and learning information that is only privy to a select few. Leave my office and nothing will change." The young CEO continued with his actions and almost didn't hear the greenette.

"I'll do it but I mean what I said before, I can't go back home right now. I want to be a part of the Lancers and utilise my skills but my grandfather would never allow it. And if I disappear for even more than a couple of hours, he'll be worried and send whoever he could after me." Megumi informed him, determination and worry both etched onto her face.

Reiji pressed a button on his intercom, "Nakajima."

"Yes Akaba-sama?" Nakajima's voice cracked over the system.

"Prepare a room for Miss Suishou, she'll be staying here tonight along with Kurosaki and Serena." Megumi respectfully bowed her head at his words, after all, she had been raised to be a respectful woman.

"Understood Akaba-sama," the intercom suddenly went quiet.

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) O (

Megumi couldn't sleep.

The bedroom in LDS was immaculate in every way possible, nevertheless the scenery was unfamiliar and lacked the reassurance of her own bedroom. She sat up and stuffed her feet into the shoes that rested at the foot of her bed. Whenever Megumi felt unsettled, she found that walking helped soothe and ground her.

The building was frightingly large, filled with stretching and never ending corridors. So it was the perfect place to explore.

One by one, Megumi pushed each unlocked door open. It was either an unoccupied bedroom she encountered, or a room filled with tables and chairs. While it may have been considered tedious to others, Megumi was a curious soul that managed to be entertained by the simplest pleasures in life.

 _'Thump, thump, bump, crash!'_

Loud noises suddenly flooded the air, the vibrations shaking the walls.

 _'What was that?'_ Megumi thought, her hand drifted to the empty spot on her waist which was usually occupied by her deck. She cursed herself, what if Academia manged to break into LDS again and came back to finish their objective? Megumi immensely disliked feeling vulnerable, especially if it entitled a situation spiralling out of her control.

There wasn't enough time for her to run back to her room and collect her deck, also…Megumi wasn't all that entirely certain where her room was. She had strayed too far and was now paying the price. The only sensible option was for her to investigate the source of the noise and sound the alarm if need be.

Megumi jogged down the hallway in the direction of the racket and stopped outside a door that was slightly open. Feeling curiosity overcome her, Megumi peered into the room and was met with the sight of a disgruntled Kurosaki, throwing the objects nearest to him at the wall.

"Useless!" Kurosaki grunted, "The Synchro Dimension?! The most logical thing to do is strike Academia directly! By travelling to the Synchro Dimension we're only wasting the time that we could be spending saving Ruri and my other comrades." He then sat down on his bed, resting his face into his hands as tremors racked through his body.

 _'Kurosaki? He was making all that noise?'_ Megumi thought, _'it feels almost unnatural to see him in this state. I should leave him alone, I certainly won't be helping this situation by getting involved.'_

However Megumi mistakenly leaned too far forward and the door opened itself completely. Kurosaki instantly sprang to his feet and reached for his duel disk, until he noticed it was a partially dressed Megumi and his shoulders slightly relaxed, yet his demeanour remained the same.

"How long were you there for? Answer me," he demanded and Megumi knew that she couldn't lie, Kurosaki was observant and would be able to tell.

"Ruri is your sister, correct?" Megumi asked, attempting to change the subject.

Shock temporarily relayed itself in Kurosaki's eyes, leaving almost as soon as it had arrived. "Go back to your room, this doesn't concern you."

"You must miss her terribly." Megumi continued, taking a step towards him. She was surprised by her own words and actions, caring for other people wasn't in her nature but recently, after meeting the other member of the Lancers, she found small aspects of herself changing. "Losing somebody precious to you is never easy but you should count yourself lucky."

"Lucky?!" Kurosaki scoffed, "My family and my home is gone and you think that's lucky? You don't know the meaning of the word."

Emotions never came easily to Megumi, her logic usually triumphed over her feelings on a regular basis. She wanted to tell Kurosaki that she could relate to him on some level that he wasn't the only person in the building who was also hurting, but she couldn't. He would never talk about his past, at least to her, somebody he barely knew.

That couldn't stop her from trying though.

"You're still here, alive. That was the best possible course of action because it means you can fight for another day. Your sister may not be physically with you right now, but she will be soon. Hold on to that, some people don't have the same luxury. Goodnight Kurosaki." Megumi bowed slightly before him and left the room, she could hear him locking the door behind her.

She could feel her own pain resurfacing and in a way, almost envied Kurosaki. There was a chance that he could one day return back to the life he knew, she never could. Shinichi and her mother were never coming back, a fact that she had long ago accepted – but it still didn't stop her from feeling everything that had occurred five years prior.


End file.
